Friday, June 19, 2009

Many people love to ride rollercoasters--the higher and faster, the better. But what if they had to ride one every day. They'd soon tire of it mighty fast. Freelance writing is a lot like riding a daily rollercoaster. It has its highs and lows and its thrills. But it also has its risks. And while few rollercoasters ever jump the track, that's a common occurence in the world of a freelance writer.

I've had to start over with markets at least a half-dozen times. Writing markets are volatile, giving way to every little bump in the economy or in reading trends. It's difficult keeping ahead of the changes. Editors switch jobs just about as frequently as hair dressers. In today's economy, they're being tossed out with all the other people for lack of advertising income. And what do they end up doing--freelancing.

While there may seem to be an endless supply of writing markets, the number in any one niche or specialty is often limited. When more writers enter the marketplace, that drastically limits the publishing possibilities for those already in it. A recent edition of The Washington Post offered a travel article on Moscow, a creative quest to find information about a great, great, great uncle who was Lenin's right-hand man. After reading it, I came upon the writer's tag line--former travel editor of the paper. So much for trying to break in there.

I guess I'll have to buy another ticket and try to ride this damn coaster again. Maybe this time it will stay on track.

Enjoy stirring shipwreck tales.

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About Me

Writing has been my life and my work for the last 30 years. During that time, I've had the opportunity to explore a variety of subjects, researching many of them on travels to over 70 countries. I’ve also been an avid collector of antiques and collectibles and specialize in writing about antiques. My antiques articles have appeared in many antiques and consumer publications, including British Heritage, AntiqueWeek, American Antiquities Journal, and Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine. I have also published two books on antiques, How to Start Your Own Antiques Business in Your Home and Recognizing and Refinishing Antiques for Pleasure and Profit, both from Globe Pequot Press.
Throughout my writing career, I've produced nearly 4,000 articles and 15 books. I write non-fiction because I feel that fact is infinitely more interesting than fiction. However, in one of my latest books, Shipwrecks and Buried Treasure: The Outer Banks from Globe Pequot Press, I crossed the boundary between nonfiction and fiction, writing an historical narrative of the harrowing disasters in the seas off North Carolina.